Hogwarts' Bucket List
by EraKnight
Summary: Second chances are rare, so Acora Bones plans on making the most of hers, even if she has to save the world and her favorite characters at the same time.
1. Chapter 1

**Hogwarts' Bucket List**

 _by EraKnight_

 ** _Chapter 1: Be a witch_**

Acora Bones had always been a strange child. Raised by her aunt after her parents died in the war, her eccentrics were overlooked. Her aunt Amelia was always working, and the house elves liked her weirdness. Her cousin, when she came over, didn't look deeply into the strangeness but still liked her even if her mother was the opposite.

Part of the reason why her other aunt disliked her was because Acora's father had been a Squib and her mother had been a Muggleborn. Her aunt hadn't been a Slytherin, but in Pureblood families like theirs, even if they were 'Blood traitors', it was thought to be disgraceful to have a Squib in the family.

Because of her parentage, not much was really expected of Acora. She wasn't expected to be a witch. She wasn't expected to get a job. She wasn't expected to be seen or heard.

She had lived her life like that for too long, she had decided.

In her past life, she could remember being a shy girl who only found comfort in her books. Her parents had been rich, and she was expected then to be beautiful, kind, innocent, and perfect. She was expected to paint well, play piano well, and marry well.

What they didn't expect was her to get cancer at the age of fifteen and die of it.

So she was done living up to expectations. She would live her life the way she wanted to live it. She would read as many books as she could, eat as much as she wanted, love who she loved, and be a witch.

She had read the Harry Potter books in her past life, seen the movies. It had been a magical world, and a wonderful escape. It hadn't been her favorite books series, neither was it the most remembered.

She remembered the important things though. Horcrux locations, who would die, how to defeat Voldemort.

And she would defeat him, prophecy or not.

So she watched for the signs that she was a witch. Even if she wasn't, she could still destroy the Horcruxes. At least some of them.

The years flew by, and still no sign. She wasn't even sure she had been born into the right era. There was talk of the Boy-Who-Lived, but no one mentioned his age. Harry Potter seemed more mythical being than human, much less a child her age.

She held onto hope yet. Amelia sometimes told her stories of the past war, and how Harry Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had been a baby then. Maybe she would be able to change things. She tried to ignore that thought that even if she changed things, Death would want something in return. Someone else. And who was she to play God? She had been reincarnated, that was it. No angel had told her to save them. She just wanted to. It was selfish, but she wanted those bright lights to live.

She was thinking of this late at night when suddenly all the lights in her rooms turned themselves on, brighter than normal. The sudden change in light made her squint, and the lights disappeared soon after revealing a house elf, Raz, in the door way.

"Ah, Young Mistress's magic flared up. Good, good. Madame Amelia was worried. Now, back to sleep, Young Mistress. You have a big day tomorrow," Raz said, bustling into the room to tuck her in once more. Acora let her, knowing that if she didn't Raz would cry. And crying house elves made her cry too.

The next day, May 7, she got up early for her tenth birthday. A year. That was all she had left to wait for her letter. Then she could happily cause chaos in Hogwarts. Oh, the things she could do…

She was shaken from her thoughts as she entered the dining room, where a gathering of people shouted, "Happy birthday!" when she entered. The group mostly consisted of house elves, and neither of her aunts were there, but there was her cousin Susan and she thought that she and the elves were enough.

"You didn't have to come," she told Susan, knowing that her mother disapproved.

Susan snorted. "You're my cousin. Besides, mother will get over it. And dad likes you."

She smiled at her cousin and hugged her tightly, thinking of her little sister from her other life, too tiny and skinny with thick blonde curls and a happy smile, missing a tooth. But Susan wasn't Annie, and she wouldn't try to make her into something that she wasn't.

The rest of the party was nostalgic, her thoughts focused more on the past than the future. She wondered if her family would recognize her now. She wasn't a quiet shy girl anymore. She was loud and outgoing. Her hair was brown instead of blonde, her eyes hazel instead of blue, her skin tanned instead of pale.

She shook those thoughts from her head, and made the decision to live in the moment.

x~x~x

She received her Hogwarts letter a month after her eleventh birthday, and she let herself smile for the rest of the day after sending a quick reply. The next week, Acora and her aunt went to Diagon Alley to get everything she would need for her school year.

They went to the bookshop first. She let her aunt get her school books while she ran her fingers over the other books in the store. There were so many. She had been there before, but her aunt hadn't let her get any spell books. She probably knew more about magical creatures and Herbology than anyone her age. That was just about the only things she could learn about, as she didn't need to see the future. She didn't need anything about Muggles, and she was already good at math. Ancient Runes and Potions were both pretty much magic, as she couldn't make one of them without the Ministry registering it as conscious magic.

Her aunt would only allow her to pick out only one more book, so she choose one on defense spells. She already knew that she would need that, considering the luck of that teaching position.

After that, they went to get Acora fitted for her robes. A boy with bright green eyes and a hidden scar was already being measured, and Acora couldn't help but smile at him. Amelia had looked at him and was staring, but Acora went over to him and offered her hand, ignoring the other boy with silvery blonde hair.

"Hello, my name's Acora Bones. You?"

"Harry. My name's Harry."

She shook his hand firmly. "It's nice to meet you, Harry Potter."

His green eyes widened with shock as she let the seamstress do her thing. Draco turned his own wide eyes towards the other boy, but Harry's robes were already done, and he didn't hesitate to rush out of the shop.

"Who are you?" the blonde boy demanded, sneering at her.

"I'm Acora Bones," she introduced, wanting to be polite. He was rude, selfish, narcissistic, and just a straight up bully right now. She remembered well the one part where he protected the Trio. He was just a scared kid in a bad situation, in a bad family. He was raised to act like this.

She would be his friend, whether he liked it or not.

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

She nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of your father before. Never really seen him though."

Amelia added, trying to be kind as well, "I've seen your father before. You look quite a bit like him, but you have the famous Black eyes. They always have silver eyes. So very pretty."

"Thanks…" he muttered, likely unused to being reminded of that side of his heritage. With Sirius's disgrace and the dying out of that house, no one liked to talk about them. But her aunt was right. Sirius's eyes had been grey too, in the books at least. She wondered if he looked like Sirius. Or even his brother, Regulus. It was a strangely sad thought. Grey eyes apparently meant tragedy, despite their beauty.

"So, what House do you want to be in?" Acora asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to strike up a conversation.

"Slytherin, of course. And you?"

"Any House. They all have their good and they all have their bad," Acora answered with a shrug, flashing a grin at his quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, frowning.

"Well, Slytherins are known for their ambitions and cunning. Those are good traits. But there's also this expectation that they'll be Dark, or be Death Eaters. And then with Gryffindors, they're considered brave but stupid. Hufflepuffs, loyal yet weak. Ravenclaws, smart, but annoying and stuck-up. And some are, but most people don't meet the status-quo," Acora explained. Draco had frown throughout the whole thing but nodded, understanding.

"I don't want to meet expectations. I want to do what I want to do. Have fun, live a little."

"Yeah. I suppose that's a good way to see life…" Draco trailed off, and then shook his head. "Some of us have to meet those expectations, though."

"Yeah. I suppose some of us do."

"Done," the seamstress, muttered, having done all that she could. Draco stood up and waved a quick good bye, and left, the bell merrily ringing in his wake while dark thoughts circled through Acora's head.

Acora and Amelia were both quiet as the fitting finally ended. They bought everything else they needed, including potion cauldrons, ingredients, and other various school supplies. Last on the list was a wand.

Entering the shop, Acora felt as though her breath had been taken away. The shop was filled with shelves, and on each shelf was hundreds of wands in different small boxes. A desk sat in front of everything, and a man she knew to be Ollivander stood from it, softly calling, "Good afternoon."

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," her aunt replied.

"Ah, here for Acora?" he interrupted. "Yes, I remember, very well. Your mother, Elizabeth Bones, her wand was made of cypress wood and unicorn hair, very flexible, ten and three quarters inches long. I do wonder what yours will be..." he trailed off, darting into the shelves of wands, his fingers brushing against certain cases before he snatched them back, muttering to himself. He finally selected a wand, delicately taking it out of its case to hand it to Acora.

"This one is ash wood, phoenix feather core, of medium flexibility, and ten inches long."

The wand in hand, Acora flicked her wrist, and papers along the desk flew straight into the air, causing Ollivander to immediately snatch it back. He began to mutter to himself again as they went through four more wands, until smiling, he handed her a wand that took her breath away. It was a simple wand of pale color, with a handle slightly thicker than the tip as it thinned out towards the end. Spiraling swirls adorned the handle.

"I rarely give out elder wands, but with your situation, I believe it suits," he said with a slightly sorrowful smile as her face paled. He acted like he knew about her secret. Besides that, Voldemort's wand, the Elder Wand, was made of elder. Unlucky, they said.

Interrupting her panicked thoughts, he continued with, "Dragon heart string is the core, from one of the only gentle Norwegian Ridgebacks I know of. The creature died of old age, and another wand has the twin core. She was her trainer, and asked for it to be made to always have a part of her. The length is twelve inches exact, and the flexibility is pliable," he finished, handing the wand over to her. With a sort of strange resignation, she flicked the wand, watching the bright gold and silver sparks erupt from the wand.

Smiling, Amelia paid the wandmaker while Acora plastered a smile on her face. After the thanks were exchanged, Acora clutched her wand, hearing her aunt already leave the shop.

"Remember, rowan will always be friends with elder," Ollivander told her, guiding her out the door.

She nodded, but didn't reply.

 **A/N: Finally editing after forever. Some of those mistakes were so obvious that I want to go scream, so please excuse me while I go do that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2: Go to Hogwarts_**

Finally, September 1st arrived. King's Cross was filled with Muggles and wizards alike. It was strange to be around regular people when she was so used to magic. It was even stranger to watch the Muggles totally ignore the wizards that vanished into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Amelia had work today, so she went with Susan's family. Her aunt didn't really pay her any attention, but that was okay. Susan could easily fill the awkward silence with her chattering, and soon enough Acora felt comfortable enough to keep up with Susan. Her uncle added in every so often, but he was more at ease listening.

"So, what did you do this summer?" Susan asked.

"I read ahead in the books," Acora admitted with a laugh, though the truth was that she devoured a book a day. "Um, I flew around on my broom, too, but other than that, I didn't do much."

"I wish I could read as often as you do. It gives me a headache to read for so long."

"Well, what did you do, Susie?"

She perked up with a grin. "I've been practicing drawing. Daddy got me art lessons for my birthday, and I've been learning so much! When I grow up, I hope that I can be an artist. Or a lawyer, like Aunt Emily."

Acora laughed. "Being a lawyer sounds boring though. I want to be an auror, or a curse breaker. Something that involves danger…"

Her cousin laughed. "I can picture you as a dragon tamer or some kind of dangerous creature breeder."

"That sounds so cool!" Acora squealed, jumping up and down as she pictured adorable baby dragons. She would have to be friends with Hagrid. He could be her other uncle, who just wasn't related to her.

"We're here, girls," her uncle told them, stopping with the trolley in front of the platform. Acora took a moment to stare at the brick wall as Susan volunteered to go first. Her mother went with her, vanishing into the platform with her own trolley that she took from her father. Acora rushed in next with her uncle by her side. She flinched as she neared the bricks, and then felt a strange sensation that she could only describe as weird as she passed through the barrier.

The first things she saw next was the Hogwarts Express. She was hard-pressed to control herself from squealing and jumping up and down again. Beside her, Susan was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't stop looking at everyone and everything.

"Come on, girls. We have to put your things on the train first!" Susan's father called, taking his daughter's trolley and pushing it towards the train. The two girls struggled to catch up, and then loaded their luggage on the train the Muggle way.

Acora's uncle chatted with someone that he knew while they were loading their things, and when she turned around she saw that the man had distinctive red hair. Her uncle, noticing that she and Susan had finished, waved them over with a motion of his hand.

"Susan, Acora, this is Arthur Weasley. Arthur, meet my daughter and my niece."

They all shook hands, and when that was done, the man was whisked away by two twin boys. They had quickly introduced themselves as Fred and George before they left, and Acora tried not to laugh deviously. She might die after she did it, but one day she would prank them. Someday.

After all the hugs and tears on Susan's part were over, the two girls hopped on the train, Acora's grin growing with each minute while Susan's nervousness grew. They frantically waved as the train pulled out, and she herself tried to keep from thinking of the dangers of the future.

She told Susan to go find her other friends, and settled in to reread _Hogwarts, A History_ for the rest of the journey before she had to change. She was just starting to read about how the Goblin Wars affected Hogwarts when suddenly the door to her compartment opened. A girl with bushy hair and front teeth just a bit too big for her mouth stood there, along with a nervous boy who was wringing his hands. Hermione and Neville, then. She had been expecting them.

"Hello, have you seen a toad? Neville has lost his," she said, quickly glancing around the compartment.

"No, I haven't. Maybe ask one of the upper classmen? They'll likely know a charm or spell that you can use to help find him," Acora replied, closing her book.

"Oh, that's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione muttered, frowning.

Neville gave her a small smile. "Th-thank you…"

"Your welcome." Acora sensed the start of a brilliant friendship. He was so adorable. And his cheeks were so squishy looking…

Without noticing, she had stood up and acted on her urges, poking his cheeks and squealing. His face turned bright red and the other girl was giving her a weird look, but Acora couldn't help it. How his grandmother could be so strict she didn't know. His grandma was pretty cool though. She took on a couple of Death Eaters at her age and came out of it fine. Seriously, Acora hoped that she would be a kickass grandma too. Just one that also pinches cheeks and spoils her grandkids.

She finally stopped prodding and pinching his cheek and sat down, finding her place in the book again. By this point, Neville looked like he might randomly turn into a tomato and Hermione was gaping.

"What?" Acora asked, giving them a cheeky grin.

Hermione grabbed Neville and walked out without another word.

"I wasn't that bad. Was I?"

x~x~x

Acora changed into her robes at the last possible moment, and tucked her book into them. They were plain at the moment, simply black. She decided against wearing pants today. She didn't want to stick out, but she wasn't all that comfortable in a skirt. Especially now that she knew people could turn invisible in this world, she felt like someone would try to look up it. At least they were knee length.

She stumbled off of the red train into Hogsmead Station and followed the group of students. She followed a path towards the lake, not having to look long to see the looming figure of Hagrid as he called for first years.

"'Cora!" she heard a shout as Susan slammed into her, stumbling just a bit under the extra weight. Two Indian twins followed her cousin at a much more sedate pace, who Acora knew were in the books and movies but couldn't put a name to. She thought they might have also attended one of Susan's birthday parties, but she could only vaguely remember that.

"Susie, are you trying to tackle me?" Acora asked, grinning.

"Oh, sorry! You remember Padma and Parvati, right?" she asked, gesturing towards the pretty twins.

"Um, not very well," she admitted.

"Oh, that's alright. We've never really hung out or even talked," one of them said with a shrug, flashing a brilliant smile. Acora smiled back, and hoped no one noticed the pink of her cheeks. They were already quite beautiful, and Acora just knew that at some point she was going to have a full blown crush. On the Ravenclaw one, probably. If she remembered correctly, the Gryffindor one was kind of ditzy. She would try to withhold judgement until she actually got to know them both.

"Come on," the other twin said, walking towards the boats. "We need to get in a boat before they leave without us."

After being comfortably settled in a boat, Acora couldn't help but admire the scenery. It really was a beautiful picture. The darkness surrounded, being pierced by the lanterns and the dim light of Hogwarts. The lake was still, and the moon was bright in the sky. She tried to look for the Giant Squid in the water, but it wasn't called the Black Lake for no reason. She probably couldn't even see half a foot under, especially in the dark.

Soon enough, they were passing through a curtain of ivy into a cave hidden on the cliff side, and for several minutes they passed through the tunnel, which thankfully was well-lit with oil lanterns flickering every couple of feet, until they reached a large underground harbor. The harbor was beautiful in the glow, ivy twining about the rocky walls and around the rough stone steps leading upwards.

Stepping out of the boat and almost straight into the water, she grabbed her cousin to stabilize herself. Ah, yes, clumsiness appears again.

Susan started giggling at her, and Acora snorted while trying to uphold a glare. "Stupid sense of balance," she muttered to herself, causing the twins to giggle as well.

Once everyone was out of their boat, the half-giant led them up the stairs and onto the sloping lawn. Everything was well maintained and beautiful from what Acora could see in the shadows. A couple of lanterns were held on posts here and there, but not many. The best source of light was from the windows of the castle, though, which shone bright and cheerful. Already, this place felt like home, despite the massive size and grandeur.

Hagrid led them to the huge oak doors, and Acora stepped forward with the others into their new home.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3: Get Sorted_**

Acora blinked at the bright light, and stumbled after the others. She and her cousin were both at the back of the pack of students, but that was okay. They were led to the Great Hall, and the tanned girl had to stare for several moments.

The four tables were insanely long- and there were hundreds of students, so many more than the book talked about or mentioned. The tables were covered with giant table clothes in the colors of their respective Houses, and Acora was fascinated with the ceiling. She loved watching the stars. While she hadn't memorized the name of every constellation, one of the things on her bucket list was that, which would hopefully be completed this year, along with pranking the Weasley twins.

Susan was fidgeting beside her, and had gripped her hand tightly, but Acora didn't mind. Her cousin wanted to get into Hufflepuff, and be like the rest of their family. The brunette girl could care less. She just wanted to get Sorted, any House would be great. They all had their pros and cons.

The Sorting started with a cool song from the Hat, and Acora was now shaking with excitement while Susan quivered with nerves. A very few names were called before her, and she recognized a few, whether they were from Susan's parties, her aunt telling her about them, or from her past life.

"Bones, Acora!"

Taking a deep breath after receiving a scared smile from her cousin, Acora walked through the crowd, trying hard not to get last minutes nerves. Oops, too late.

She broke free of the crowd, and wished that she was back in it when she saw all of the eyes on her and the amount of barrier-free space that she would have to walk. She kept her back straight, and sped up just a little. Or a lot.

McGonagall stood at a podium beside the hat, a scroll of names in her hands. The Hat sat on a stool just slightly in front and to the side of the Deputy Headmistress, and without realizing it, Acora's feet had brought her there, and she sat down, bringing the Hat to her head in the same motion. The brim fell low over her eyes, and her sight was enveloped in darkness.

 _"…Well, this is interesting. I've meet people that had past lives before, but never have I seen one that lived in an alternate universe. I must say, you're handling this all much better than most."_

 _Huh? You can see that? Of course you can. Magic._

 _"Hmm, you've suppressed quite a bit of memories, which is why you're as sane as you are. Most reincarnations, if they do remember, are not right. You're just sad though. You don't even remember the faces of your family from your past life, do you?"_

Acora didn't respond, and felt her hands clench. _Can we please just get on with the Sorting?_

 _"Of course."_

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the Hat, and Acora was brought back to reality. She tripped and fell when she jumped off the stool, and quickly put the Hat back on the stool before rushing towards the blue table. Laughter sounded in her ears. Some of it was friendly, from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. Hufflepuff was the only one she was certain was totally friendly laughter and applause.

She collapsed in a seat, beside a pretty Asian girl who gave her a sympathetic smile. If every girl Acora met was going to be this pretty, then she might trip more on purpose to be smiled at like that.

"Hello, I'm Cho Chang," she introduced herself, and Acora automatically took her hand and shook it, though her grip was very weak.

"Acora Bones," she responded, and managed a small smile.

"Don't be too nervous. Everyone has their clumsy moments, and you'll find that most Ravenclaws won't judge you for it," Cho told her, patting her head like she was a pet. Acora had a strange feeling that this wasn't going to be a one-time situation.

Losing herself in her thoughts, she only returned to the real world once everything had become completely silent, the only sound hundreds of people breathing at the same time, waiting. Her eyes found the Sorting Hat, and Harry underneath it. She couldn't remember the exact conversation that was going on, but she knew the gist. _In Slytherin, you could be great._

The silence stretched on and on, and Acora couldn't help but hope that her very presence in this world hadn't already changed things that drastically. Then, as the Sorting Hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR," she snorted to herself. How self-centered she must seem to think that things had been changed already, especially something as big as this.

She barely paid attention to the rest of the ceremony, simply looked at everyone at every table, trying to figure out who was who, and when she recognized a name called out by McGonagall, looked at the face and memorized it with the name. Most names she didn't recognize, but she expected that. She had missed over half the ceremony, and a bunch of the people left were never mentioned in the series.

Finally, the sorting ending with Blaise Zabini, and then everyone stood up, following after their own prefects. It was a struggle to keep up with the crowd. Everyone was trying squeeze out the doors of the Great Hall at the same time, but luckily for Acora, Cho had already grabbed her and was tugging her along to make sure she didn't get lost. Their hands were gripped together and Acora couldn't help but think that Cedric was going to have some tough competition in the future.

A rainbow of ties surrounded her, and even with Cho's hand she felt as though she still might be separated, and she couldn't remember what the Ravenclaw common room looked like. Was it in the dungeons, like Slytherin's or was it hidden by a portrait, like Gryffindor's?

She was wrong on both counts as they climbed higher and higher on a very interesting stairway that had some paths leading to doors in the wall that appeared to lead to nowhere, since there were windows right beside them. There were other paths that lead to blank walls and even others that suddenly twisted to go down and around. Some even were upside down. They had separated from two Houses at the staircase, the Slytherins going down one hall and Hufflepuffs another. The Gryffindors followed them until they marched up the opposite way, and Acora could see them in the distance, following a spiraling stairway to a hall, which soon was out of her view.

Cho squeezed her hand, and then shouted above the other voices, "This is the way we take every Monday and Friday, so make sure you're with an older student on the other days until you have each day's path memorize. Sometimes it does crazy things for holidays, and don't even get me started on Friday the 13th."

Acora nodded her head, watching as a staircase choose that instant to move. The upperclassmen all groaned at the same time, and then turned towards a stair way that twisted until it was upside down. The prefect walked up it, somehow ignoring gravity while she was at it. Her hair was the only thing that apparently followed physics, and the blonde mane hung like a curtain.

Most of the first years were staring, and then questions started being fired off by every single one of them, including Acora.

"How is she doing that? How is she sticking to the stairs? Why is only her hair following gravity? Is magic creating a boundary of like, reverse gravity, and it ends before her head?"

Cho laughed. "Yes, to the last question. The stairs have an attractive force that only goes to about the waist. People with glasses and bags regularly lose them here, so hold on to them."

Acora nodded and clutched her bag to her body as she stepped onto the stairway. It went up quite a bit until it finally twisted back to a normal staircase. Then they were on a staircase spiraling up until they reached the top, which opened to a large circular hallway that appeared to go around the single room in the center of it that was given away by the door right in front of them. Comfortable looking blue and brown chairs were in the hallway as well.

"We have chairs, just in case we all get locked out of the tower," Cho stated, gesturing towards the furniture. "It doesn't happen often, but every so often there is a riddle that gets us all. Usually if we all put our heads together, we'll figure it out within the hour, but sometimes we have to get Professor Flitwick or Professor McGonagall. My first year, I ended up sleeping outside the Common Room because of that."

Acora nodded, but she still wasn't quite understanding how they would get locked out of the Common Room. Or how to even get in, since there wasn't a doorknob or handle, just a brass eagle knocker.

The prefect, a willowy girl with blonde hair, used the knocker, and then it opened its mouth, and asked, "What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?"

"The letter 'm'," she answered promptly, and the oak door swung open.


End file.
